by Funa
And yet—
“B-but I told you no more than two! With three, your nervous system might break down from the shock, and there’s a chance that you could really die! Not a small chance, either!”
Mavis had already heard this speech the first time that Mile gave her the Micros. She had heard it again and again—she had heard it so often that it made her sick, in fact.
The Blue Meteors’ lives were irreplaceable. Though she apologized desperately to Mile, there was not an iota of fear, distress, or regret upon Mavis’s face. If this ever happened again, she would do the exact same thing she’d done today.
Such was the way of a knight, and particularly of the young knight hopeful by the name of Mavis von Austien.
Understanding this, Mile could only shrug. All told, if she’d been in Mavis’s place, she would have made the same call. Once she came to that realization, there was nothing left for her to say.
But the fact remained that a medicine she had concocted might have been responsible for the death of a friend. Maybe I was wrong…
She was beginning to regret ever giving Mavis the Micros, but she could not take them back now. Mavis had been troubled by the difference in power between herself and Reina and Pauline. She’d felt inferior to them because of the leaps and bounds they had made as mages due to the cheat code that was Mile’s power leveling. For Mile to take the Micros away from her now, after it had meant so much to her…
Plus, it was true that without those Micros, one of the Blue Meteors might have died. Mavis had used the item that was provided to her in case of an emergency, in an emergency situation. Could Mile really criticize her for that?
So this really is all my fault…
Overhearing the exchange between the two girls, the Blue Meteors looked uneasy. They had never considered that Mavis would be so desperate to try and save them that she would use a magical medicine that endangered her own life. Furthermore, they could scarcely begin to fathom what the cost of such a magical medicine might be.
If Mavis had not rushed back in to help them when she had, they might have died or taken serious injury. On top of coming to their aid, she had taken that precious, dangerous medicine, pushing her body to the limits while risking injuries that would normally leave her paralyzed—all to save their lives.
And after all she had done for them, they had lobbed ungrateful, scathing words at her…
The five Meteors clutched their skulls, moaning in self-hatred, shame, and guilt.
The two elves, meanwhile, stood frozen stiff. First that bizarre search magic, then that absurd storage magic capacity, and now a magical medicine that could strengthen the body?
Reina and Pauline, meanwhile, sat leisurely upon a rock and waited for everyone else to calm down.
***
“I’m sorry! I’m really, really sorry!”
The Blue Meteors, starting with Graf, all bowed their heads in gratitude to Mavis.
Mavis, likewise, was bowing her own head, her face full of gratitude and shame.
As far as Mavis was concerned, the Blue Meteors were her saviors. They had gotten hurt because they had prioritized saving her over their own safety after she jumped so recklessly into the fray. She had gotten cocky and let her guard down, and they had saved her—especially Rattle, who had shielded her with his own body.
Both sides felt utterly indebted to each other, and the exchange of gratitude dragged on.
“Give it a rest already!” Reina cried. “We took this job together, so we’re all allies here—obviously we would all try to help each other out!”
Finally, the two groups settled down.
“Mile, please put those orcs in storage. There won’t be any extermination reward for hunting them all the way out here, but we should be able to get a good price for their meat and other materials, which will make for a decent haul. Oh, and put the Meteors’ in there with them.”
“Okay!”
At Reina’s direction, Mile lugged the orc corpses into storage (or rather, her inventory), one after the other.
“Huh? A-are you sure?” asked Graf, surprised.
“We fought together to protect our employers, and you shielded Mavis with your own bodies, didn’t you? I’m not some spoiled baby who’s going to keep being cranky after you showed us some sincerity!” Reina harrumphed, but it was obvious she was trying to hide her embarrassment. Apparently, she had been quite moved by the way the Meteors had protected Mavis but couldn’t form the words to properly express this.
“Haha, well, thanks. It’s a big help,” said Graf with a wry smile, seeming to sense her awkwardness.
If they care that much and are brave enough to risk their own lives to protect another party, then why were they so rude when we started out? They aren’t bad people, and they aren’t unskilled, so you’d think that they would be able to behave themselves better. They probably aren’t too popular with the ladies, Pauline, Mavis, and Mile thought to themselves.
There were many useless and stupid men in this world. Plenty of people had attractive exteriors but were rotten on the inside—and the Blue Meteors seemed to be the exact opposite. They would just have to wait until a girl who saw past their abrasive exteriors and recognized how good they were came along…
With this thought, Pauline, Mavis, and Mile all realized something.
We just assumed that they’re all single, but for all we know, some of them might have girlfriends or even be married men. But if we ask them about it, they might think that we’re interested, and that would be annoying… Ugh, we need to know, but we can’t ask them!
As the three languished in their curiosity, Reina looked on, puzzled.
“S-say, Mile?”
“Yes?” Mile replied, cocking her head at the sudden question from Aetelou.
“When this job is over, would you consider working for us full-time? Ah, I mean, along with your three companions, of course. You could help us in our research or come along on our investigations…”
When Mile took a closer look, she noticed a peculiar gleam in Aetelou’s eyes. As she hesitated a moment at the unexpected question, Pauline cut in from beside her. “Does that mean you want Mile to help you with your research? Or that you want to research her?”
“Er…”
The two elves were lost for words.
“I knew it!” said Pauline, pressing on. “I’m sure you have high hopes of using her for her ridiculous storage magic or want to try to make her spill the secrets of her other skills, but she’s had more than her fill of that already. If she wanted money or fame, Mile could have both—and yet here she is, working as a hunter. Please consider that. Besides, do you really think that you two are the first to make her such an offer?”
“Er…” they both stammered.
And yet, just as Pauline thought they were starting to get it…
“B-but, you’re all acquaintances of Clairia’s, aren’t you?! There’s no way she would ever let such a juicy research subject slip out from under her nose! I’m sure that she tried to sink her teeth into you! And I’m certain that we could get much better research results than that little—”
“That’s right! Rather than frittering her time away like that little fiend who only pretends to be a serious scholar, it would be much better if Mile were in our hands!”
“Hey now, hey now, hey now!!!”
Not only the Crimson Vow, but the Blue Meteors, leapt in to object to this dangerous turn of phrase.
“I-I mean, in our hands purely for research purposes, of course,” the elf explained.
There was only silence in reply.
“Mile has no interest in any such thing!” Pauline denied them once more, but the pair were not ready to back down.
“We weren’t asking you—we were asking Mile! Mile, come and live with us! We could even teach you a bit of elven magic! Special, secret elven magic that no human knows. If you would teach us some things, then I’m sure the elders would permit us to share at least a little.
We might even be able to invite you back to our elven village as a privileged friend!”
“Nn…”
For Mile, this was quite the tantalizing offer. Elven magic was one thing, but a special invitation to an elven village?
“Nn. Nnh. Nnnnnnhhh…”
Got her! the elves thought, grinning triumphantly, but then Mile finally managed to wring out her reply.
“…Y-you’ll have to go through my manager!”
“Manager???”
The entire group was dumbfounded by this unfamiliar term.
“Wouldn’t it be better to discuss this over dinner?” asked Graf. “Let’s stay focused on our investigation while it’s still light out. That battle with the orcs ate up a lot of our time.”
“Ah…”
The Crimson Vow and the elves could not help but agree.
“Graf, you’d be much more popular with the girls if you always acted like this,” Mile said without thinking.
“Shut up! That’s none of your concern!” raged Graf.
Judging by his response, there was no way that he wasn’t single.
***
“This is good!”
Mile let herself get a bit carried away preparing the last dinner they would share during the course of this expedition. Breakfast the following day was sure to be another simple affair, as would lunch, which they would eat while waiting for the wagon to arrive at the outskirts of the forest. She also wanted to thank the Blue Meteors for protecting Mavis the way they had. Granted, as long as no one actually died, Mile’s magic could probably have healed even the gravest of injuries. But the trauma of being that badly pummeled by several orcs might have affected Mavis’s ability to continue on as a hunter.
Frankly speaking, no matter how strong Mavis was, she was still a slender girl with a noblewoman’s pampered upbringing. Her armor was simple leather, the type that favored movement over protection, with only partial coverage of the most vital areas; her skull was completely exposed. In short, the Blue Meteors had literally saved Mavis’s life. By extension, they were the saviors of all the Crimson Vow. As such—and partially in apology for treating them so cruelly on the first day of their journey—Mile put her all into treating them to a lavish feast.
“What is this?! It’s so tender and toothsome, and this flavor…”
“It’s rock lizard fried in hot vegetable oil.”
“This stew has such a sharp flavor…”
“Eheheh, I used slightly more expensive seasonings than you’d find in most restaurants. I don’t use these very often. Pauline complains.”
“I’ve never seen a dish like this…”
“It’s tomato chicken rice, wrapped in an omelet. It’s a specialty of my hometown, my pièce de résistance!”
“This soup is so good…”
“That’s just a normal, hearty minestrone.”
The two elves sat by, silently eating their meals as the Meteors lavished Mile with compliment after compliment. But then…
“Mile, are you sure you wouldn’t like to come and work as our housekeeper?”
“Who the heck would want to do that?!?!”
“But seriously, are you saying that we could’ve eaten like this yesterday, too? We really messed up!” said Rattle.
“No, this is a special occasion—it’s so I could give my thanks to you all! Normally, we might just have orc steak and vegetable soup, or boar meat with ginger and wild mushroom soup, or something like that. And then maybe one vegetable side… We only make this many dishes when we’re celebrating or when I’m trying out new recipes,” Mile replied.
“Ah, that reminds me—” she added, suddenly recalling something. “Please don’t ask any questions about the medicine that Mavis used. I’ve been worried that you might, so…”
At her words, the Blue Meteors smiled wryly.
“Everyone knows it’s taboo to ask about a hunter’s skills or abilities,” replied Callack, the rapier-wielder. “I’m sure you’ve kept that medicine concealed precisely so it doesn’t get out into the world. Besides, there’s no way you can use something like that without having a dedicated healer around, right? Judging by the condition Mavis was in after using it, and the godly healing skills you and Pauline have, it’s clearly not something a normal hunter could ever handle. If any of us tried it, we’d probably self-destruct on the first go, wouldn’t we? We’re not stupid enough to try to get our hands on that.”
“Well, that’s a veteran hunter for you.” Mile nodded approvingly. “Seems like you understand perfectly.” She’d been worried that the Blue Meteors might be overly interested in the Micros and had been coming up with explanations to put them off, but blessedly, one of them had beaten her to the punch.
Honestly, they’re a lot more reasonable than I thought they were. So why did they say such unfortunate things before? It’s such a waste. They’re perfectly fine fellows, but they’ll never catch a girl’s eye if they keep acting that way.
That one point still had Mile well and truly frustrated.
“So Mile—about signing on with us…”
“Will you forget about it already?!”
Even Mile had begun to reach her limits in the face of the elves’ persistence.
***
Breakfast was a quick meal of reheated leftover soup from the previous night, along with hardtack and fruit. Of course, even the addition of the hot soup and fresh fruit added an element of luxury. Malawenn, the one mage among the Blue Meteors, didn’t have all that much magical power and couldn’t afford to waste any on prepping hot beverages before they’d even set out. The Crimson Vow, with three mages overflowing with magic, was an abnormality. That was all there was to say.
“All right! It’s time to head back. When we get to the rendezvous point, we can have a quick lunch while we wait for the wagon. We’ll be traveling a bit off the main path, so please don’t forget to keep gathering and investigating your surroundings along the way. Let’s go!”
Following Aetelou’s directions, the group proceeded.
About one hour had elapsed since they set out when Mile announced what seemed like her umpteenth discovery.
“Oh, Miss Sharalir! Special A-rank targets—a whole patch of them!”
“What?!”
Both Sharalir and Aetelou shouted in surprise.
Special A-rank targets. These were the research items that the elves had indicated as ones that should be reported with utmost priority if discovered and absolutely should not be touched. In other words, they were extraordinarily rare.
“I-It’s true… Phipholcia plants, a wh-whole field of them…”
“No way!”
These plants were nothing like Mile had ever seen before. Perhaps because they had just happened to stumble upon them when they were in bloom, they were covered in beautiful pale pink flowers. However, their true value lay in their medicinal qualities.
“I-I-If we harvest all of these and bring them back with us, we could make so much money…”
“What are you saying, you idiot?! Sure, we could earn a few bucks—or we could have the Academy come out, stake a claim on this place, and cultivate phipholcia plants here. If we play our cards right, we might even get to be in charge of the cultivation! Combine that with our success in discovering this location, and we could both become associate professors, at the very least! If we report our findings here, the Academy can take control of the area at once and establish a road from the edge of the forest to this spot. We could establish a residential facility for cultivators and their guards, and start developing this place…”
Both of the elves suddenly fell silent.
“These aren’t candidates for gathering. Let’s keep moving.”
Sharalir and Aetelou began walking, suddenly very serious.
“What?!”
The whole group, save for the two elves, raised their voices in shock. What happened to the fervent interest of just moments ago?
“Didn’t you hear me? If we report this pla
ce, they’ll lay a road through here and erect a bunch of buildings,” said Sharalir.
“In other words, they’ll cut down the trees and trample the plants. And these beautiful, wild phipholcia flowers will become just another specimen in their garden plots.”
There was a collective sigh of acknowledgement.
“As part of the terms of this job, I am swearing all of you to secrecy. You are not to breathe a word of the location of these phipholcia flowers. If any of you break this vow, you will be reported to the Guild post-haste.”
All of the hunters nodded emphatically. If their clients were willing to throw away a chance at their coveted professorships for the sake of protecting these wildflowers and their habitat, then they had no choice but to obey. Even humans would be saddened to see this lush field spoiled. It wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to think that the elves might be feeling the same way.
Plus, the day that the Guild found out they had broken a vow of secrecy, it would be all over for them.
Nothing had happened. No one had discovered anything.
There was nothing to report.
“You’re all idiots,” Pauline muttered venomously under her breath, but her expression was not truly an unhappy one.
“Kesbard, five meters ahead at 1:30! Callack, seven meters ahead at eleven o’ clock!”
“This is rather convenient.”
“Mile are you sure you don’t want a short-term contract with us?”
This time, Mile issued her directions to the Blue Meteors as well. Though they did not wish to spoil the environment by ripping up every single thing they came across, their clients began indulging themselves a bit now that they were aware of Mile’s storage capacity, ordering the harvest of anything and everything it was safe to take. They might claim that their primary goals were knowledge and academic renown, but they couldn’t quite ignore money that was lying right on the ground before them. Nor could they give up so easily on the gem that was Mile…